


Momentary Laspe Of Reason

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, M/M, Romance, episode-related
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-05-05
Updated: 2003-05-05
Packaged: 2017-11-01 06:03:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/352858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex wonders if proposing to Helen was a Momentary Laspe of Reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Momentary Laspe Of Reason

## Momentary Laspe Of Reason

by Uris and Athena

<http://fateordestiny.com>

* * *

Clark comes to the house in his bathing trunks and a tee shirt to take a dip in my pool. I watch as he squeezes through the bars again by pulling the bars apart and putting them back together on the other side. He usually jumps over them. Clark finds the pool area empty, so he takes a swim. 

Clark is swimming for over an hour when he notices that I'm watching him swim. Clark swims over to the side of the pool and rests against the edge. "Come in." 

"I need to get some work done." In the summer heat, I'm dressed in gray slacks and a long sleeve shirt. At least, my sleeves are partially rolled up. Clark doesn't sweat, but I do. I sit down in a lounge chair near the pool. 

"You better join me later." 

"You don't want to see me in swim trunks. I'll scare away the servants." 

"You're very sexy." 

"Only you think so. Helen prefers it at night with the lights off." That's a lie. She finds my hairless body very erotic. 

Clark smiles up at me. "You're fishing for compliments." 

I stand up. "I'll finish this up and I'll join you. Just don't laugh at my legs. They're so white; they'll blind you." 

As I walk back to the house, Clark returns to doing some laps. When I return to the pool area, Clark is reading The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst, one of the many books I started and never finished. 

"Does your mother know you're reading such stuff?" I tease seeing that Clark is reading a gay erotic novel. 

"Have you read it?" 

"Not really. I read the first couple pages while I was in college. It isn't something a wholesome farm boy would read. So doesn't your mother know what you're reading?" 

"No. She was shocked when she found out I read her copy of Peyton Place," Clark says. "Lex, you would be surprised how well read I am." Clark read on the average over a book a week, more in the summer. 

"I've seen the books in your loft." I show off my legs, standing in front of Clark. "Shocking white." 

Clark puts his book down on a small table beside his opened bottle of water. "I'll put sunscreen on you. I wouldn't want you to burn." 

I hand Clark the bottle of sunscreen. 

"I'll do your back first." Clark rubs sunscreen slowly over my back. Clark has a very gentle touch like satin against the skin. I notice there were no rough spots on his skin. He's a farmer's son. He should have calluses. His fingers dancing over my legs is almost as good as sex. I arch then relax my back as he puts sunscreen on my head and neck. 

"You're using this as an excuse to touch me." I wipe the sunscreen on my brow to prevent it from getting into my eyes. Does that burn and I see enough fuzzy Clarks when he rescues me. 

Clark smiles. "I don't need an excuse." Clark does my shoulders then starts on my arms. 

"I can do this myself," I insist, but not too loudly. Karen Castle learned a good massage was a better bribe than money. I could get Dad's money whenever I need it, but caressing fingers on my skin is a commodity. 

"But I'm enjoying it." Clark pouts. 

"I'm engaged to Helen." 

"Helen doesn't appreciate you the way I do. Besides you said a high-school boyfriend isn't a husband, he's an obstacle. " Clark bends down to put sunscreen on my stomach. 

"Helen is more than a girlfriend and she isn't an obstacle." 

"That is why she's never here." 

"She works long hours." I love Helen. She saved me. I could have killed Paul Hayden and got away with it, but she would know that I did it out of revenge, not necessity. She made me rethink my life. Coming home to her gives me stability and tells me that I can be more than my father's shadow. 

"Shut up and enjoy the attention." After Clark covers my stomach and navel with sunscreen, he drinks some water and returns to the chair beside the pool. 

"Clark, I shouldn't have persuaded you to sleep with me." 

"I was upset after waking up in the middle of the street. I wanted you as much as you wanted me. Lex, I don't feel guilty about what happened." 

"You're reading gay novels." I don't like stating the obvious, but sometimes it just has to be said. 

"What happened between us confused me, but not necessary in a bad way. I like it. I want to do it again." Clark puts his hand on my face. "I read about lots of things. Reading is my way of dealing with things. I read dozens of books on psychology; you don't think I'm a shrink." 

"Join me in the water. We'll talk, later." I jump into the pool and splash Clark. 

Clark drives into the deep end and then joins me in the swallow water. 

"We'll talk after I do a few laps. I can't swim for hours like you. These bones sink like rocks." I need to work hard to stay buoyant and quit after two laps. "So your dad lets you swim, but he doesn't let you play football." 

"It isn't a contact sport. You said you had a list for me," Clark says. 

"There could be bugs," I say, avoiding the question. After he floated during sex, I commented that floating wasn't on my list. Clark is odd enough without floating. Note to self, pillow talk always gets you in trouble. 

"Checked it out. I have very good eyes." 

"I'm not completely sure that Helen doesn't work for my father. My father kept on pretending not to know her name and my father remembers everything." 

Clark walked out to the deeper water so he was covered in water to his shoulder. 

"Remember you're taller than most people," I say. 

"I'm glad that I stopped growing taller or I would have had to ask you what drugs stunted your growth." Clark moves back so I could stand in the water comfortably. 

"You're a giant." I put my hand on Clark's shoulder. "Should I just give you my essay why I think Clark Kent is a space alien?" 

"School's over. I don't want to hear any essays. Let's dry off and talk." 

"In a moment. I'll do a few more laps." I swim around Clark then return to my laps. 

"I rather dry in the sun." Clark climbs out of the pool and sits along the edge. 

After less than two more laps, I swim to the side of the pool. "You'll just tan more. I have to cover myself with sunscreen." 

"You heal very fast. Perhaps, you won't burn." 

"I burn. I'll do a few more laps and we'll talk." After swimming a total of ten laps, I get out of the pool and reapply sunscreen on my head and shoulders. "So you can admit you're an alien and you won't have to hear my speech." I sit on a lounge chair. 

"I thought we dropped the Porsche thing." 

"So your strength seems to come and go. So here's my list without the Porsche: Clark Kent is a space alien because he is strong enough to lift two men. Secondly, he somehow fetched a doctor several states away faster than a car could get him there. Third, he is always where I need him to be. And, fourth, the way he reacted when I mention spaceships or aliens, and, finally, his interest in the cave is strange." 

"What do you want me to say? I could be a meteor mutant like everyone else in this town." Clark moves his chair near me and sits down. 

"I would believe that, except for your reaction to comments about extra terrestrials." 

"So?" 

"Phelan knew and I think Roger Nixon also knew, but I refused to listen to him because I put our friendship first." I put the towel on my shoulders. With Nixon, I practically put my fingers in my ears and danced around shouting "I'm not listening." Okay, I would never act in such an undignified manner, but the intent was there. I promised I would no longer spy on Clark and I'm a man of my word. Doing research on the cave isn't spying on Clark. And I needed Martha's medical records because that child she is carrying is most likely my brother or sister. I put a hand on Clark's shoulder. "I won't say anything to my father." 

"Helen knows because she took my blood when I was sick. She didn't say a word to you." 

"She believes in patient-doctor confidence. She wouldn't tell me anything about your mother while she was sick. How is she?" 

"Fine. Starting to show." Clark looks me in the eyes. "I didn't want to burden you. You and I know that your dad would put me in a place that would make Summerholt look like a ski resort." 

"Clark, you of all people know that I'm not my father." 

Clark walks over to the table where he put his bottle of water. "With everything that happened with you and Roger Nixon, I needed to keep my secret safe." 

"Roger Nixon turned on me. We've been over this." 

"Lex, I trust you." 

"Thanks for finally being honest. Do you want to go inside and play pool as I finish the last of my paperwork?" 

"I need to get my chores done. I'll see you tomorrow." 

"I'll meet you at your barn." I drink some water. 

"Whatever." Clark dries himself off and put on his flip-flops and tee shirt. 

"You're my friend. We need to work this out." I go back inside to work. My conversation with dad made me wonder about my relationship with Helen. After all these years, I should know better than to let my father get to me. 

* * *

I arrive while Clark was holding up the tractor. "It's okay, Mr. Kent. I know." 

"Know what?" Jonathan asks. 

"Clark's secret. I questioned him about it and he finally told me the truth. Your son has been trying to cover it up since I met him. I knew there was more to him that simply being another meteorite mutant like yourself or I." I smile. My smile won over powerful businessmen and politicians. A small town farmer like Jonathon should just admit defeat. 

"Like I?" Jonathan repeats. 

"You can't deny how fast your leg healed," I say. "I was amazed after all the beatings that I've received that I still manage to get a clean bill of health. My father healed several near fatal injuries in record time and regaining his vision was nothing short of miraculous." 

Jonathan finishes fixing the tractor. Finally, after Jonathan is on his feet in back of the tractor, Clark put the tractor safely back on the ground. "I'm not a mutant," Jonathan insists as he stands near me and breathes into my face. 

"Dad, Pete and Lana healed concussions instantly," Clark says. "If I realized that everyone in Smallville healed fast, I wouldn't have to had lie to Lex about the accident. He could have just thought I was like the rest of the people in this town." 

"Now, he knows," his father says. 

"Mr. Kent, I won't tell anyone about your son's gifts," I say. "I have as much to lose as he. We have all been changed by the rocks. I remember my shock when I learned that I no longer had asthma and I could do all the things other kids could do." 

"You must have been happy," Jonathan says. 

"My mother brought me a wig so I wouldn't look like I was on chemotherapy and while I was playing with some kids in the park, it came off. I started to cry as the other kids called me freak. It was better when they thought I was dying," I say as I put my hand on Clark's shoulder and turn toward him to look in his green eyes. 

"I don't need to hear about your tortured youth," Jonathan says. 

"I told the sob stories to Chloe and Clark for the Torch to print." Chloe seemed entranced when I spoke about my childhood after the sky had fallen on me. She was flattered that an adult confirmed her suspicions. 

"Let's sit down inside and we can talk about the rocks like intelligent people," Clark says. "We should invite Chloe. She was the first person to agree with Lex that the rocks were responsible for the oddities in Smallville." 

"Good idea, Son." Jonathan follows Clark and me to the living room. "Lex, do you think Helen is staying because she thinks the rocks can be used to heal people?" 

"I hope not. From what Chloe reports, the rocks are dangerous. I know first hand what they did to Jenkins and Hamilton." I take a seat. 

"Dad, would you like something to drink?" Clark asks. 

"Grape juice," Jonathan says. 

"I wouldn't mind a glass." I like orange juice more than grape juice, but I'm in the Kent home and don't want to be a bother. 

After calling Chloe to invite her to join in their discussion about the meteor rocks, Clark returns carrying two glasses of juice in one hand and the third in the other. Carefully, he hands his father and me our glasses. "Dad, could you make peace with Lex? Don't you see he has always had our best interest in mind?" 

"Do you think Dr. Bryce is a threat?" Jonathan asks. 

"I don't know." I put my hands on my lap and cross my legs in a casual manner. "She wants us to get married, but I'm hesitant after Desiree. I keep thinking there is a complex reason that she wants to stay in Smallville and I'm not sure it's me." Helen left to go Metropolis almost immediately after I proposed and that wasn't the behavior of a woman passionately in love. Helen did comment, when I told her that she prevented me from killing Paul, that she thought Clark had saved me not her. I admitted that I'm obsesses with him, but he's an alien. I could never consider a long-term relationship with him no matter how much I fantasize about the boy. I know it upsets Helen that my obsession with Clark isn't strictly scientific, but how could I ease things with Helen unless she talks to me about it? I can't read her mind and Helen can go for weeks without speaking to me. 

"Do you love her?" Jonathan asks. 

"I love her." I want her affection and her stability. I like that she is a pinnacle in society, a respected doctor. Here I did that Roger Water's speech to her and she appeared to have as many walls as I. I am honest with her about everything, but she hardly says a word to me. I know that she does important work and she's often exhausted, but a little conversation at dinner would be nice. I often feel when I'm with her that I'm speaking to hear myself speak and often I stay silent during meals to encourage her to start a conversation. "I wanted her to teach me to feel, but she doesn't feel herself. There is this silence to her." 

"No more Roger Waters," Clark says, making a Pink Floyd reference. He had now heard all the Pink Floyd albums in my collection. 

"I wouldn't quote any song lyrics," I tease. 

"Don't marry her," Jonathan says. "Wait until you meet a woman that makes you feel special." 

"What if that woman never comes? Desiree made me feel special and she was dangerous. Perhaps, I want safe," I say. Unbridled passion reminds me of Desiree and I want to stay far away from that. 

"Safe is boring," Jonathan says. 

"You married Martha Clark. She's a saint," I say. "My father wanted to take her from you, but she'd rather be married to a poor farmer than one of the most powerful widowers in world. Mr. Kent, you should be kissing the ground that woman walks on." I wonder if he would be still kissing the ground she walked on once my father's bastard was born. 

"I know that," Jonathan says as Chloe arrives. 

"Mr. Kent," Chloe says. "Lex." 

"Chloe, I think Dr. Bryce might be a danger to our community," I say, looking Chloe straight in the eye. 

"Why?" Chloe asks. 

"Her first love is research and the meteor rocks are a mutagen. She's bound to discover that," I say, no longer making good eye contact, but having that distant look that I often have when talking about a difficult subject. "I'm afraid that we'll all appear in the New England Journal of Medicine." I took a sip of my juice. Helen didn't talk to me about my pet project. She would say nothing about the strange things that she saw at the hospital. The rocks caused more than just Jitters, but Helen wasn't talking. 

"Son, are you going to speak to her?" Jonathan says. 

"I think it's up to Lex. Do we want the EPA and other government agencies finding out that the meteor rocks aren't as harmless as they first appeared? Do we want hundreds of scientists coming here tearing up our lands and our neighbors' lands looking for these potentially dangerous rocks? I believe the rocks are responsible for the accelerated healing of the people in Smallville and it could be a very dangerous if this was released to the general public. We have no idea how these rocks work and using them on others might bring more harm than good," Clark explains reminding all of us of what we had talked about in The Torch office. 

"Dr. Hamilton sold meteor fragments to tourists," I state although everyone in the room already knows that. 

"True, but I doubt that the tourists had enough exposure to feel the effects. Mild exposure seems to increase healing, but there needs to be more research. Maybe Helen can answer these questions without harming the population of this town," Chloe says. "If it can to used to mend bones overnight, it's worth looking into." Chloe doesn't mention any names but looks at Jonathan's leg. 

"I don't know if I want to talk about these things with her," I say. 

"That's up to you," Clark says. 

"I think maybe you should find out what she knows about the rocks and their mutagenic effect on people," Jonathan says. 

"I'll talk to Helen," I say. "Clark, come over to the mansion tomorrow afternoon. I would like to talk to you privately." 

"We can go to the barn and talk," Clark says. 

"It's late and I would like to see Helen a few minutes before she falls asleep," I say. 

Clark hugs me briefly. "I see you around." 

"Thanks," I say, before leaving. 

* * *

Helen is in the bedroom wearing a little blood red nightie. God that woman looks good in red. She is brushing her long brown hair in front of the mirror. "Lex, come to bed." She sits on the edge of the bed. 

I undress and put my clothes in the hamper. Helen looks at me as I make my way to our bed. I lean down to her and kiss her briefly before joining her on the bed. I pull her red nightie on the bed. It looks good on her and better on the bed. I start with her ear, taking long licks. My tongue makes its way down her face and onto her neck. My hands move under her back and pull her closer. "Helen," I whisper. 

Helen wraps her legs around mine as I start to kiss her breasts. As I fondle one, other hand presses against her back. Feeling her soft skin pressing against me makes me harder. I lick her belly button before diving into her folds. She squirms and squeals as I pull her clit between my teeth and lick her labia with strong long strokes of my tongue. I hold her hips in place as she writhes in pleasure. Helen gasps as she tries to pull away from me. 

I put my head in her chest and lick her neck as my cock finds its way to the gold. I nibble on her shoulder as I thrust into her. Helen screams as I pound her moving my hands over her sexy back. "I love you," I whisper as I fire inside her. 

Helen closes her eyes and lies against me. 

I put my hand through her hair and kiss her neck. "Honey, we need to talk." 

"I'm rather tired," Helen whispers. 

"In the morning. I love you." I close my eyes, but sleep didn't come as I listen to Helen's soft snores. I pick up a book off my large to read list. I start to read Robert Graves book about poetry and myth, The White Goddess. A few pages and I'm yawning and ready to sleep. I would get up early to do my research. I have all these unfinished projects that need my time. 

Helen doesn't understand about obsession. I need to keep my mind busy at all times. It's hard for me to shut down and go to sleep since I have hundreds of ideas buzzing in head. Light reading to me is a book on history or political science. Most fiction bores me to tears. 

Helen is still sleeping when I wake. I go to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee. It's only five and the staff isn't up yet. I eat some toast and fruit as my coffee brews. I only need four to five hours of sleep a night. Helen needs closer to eight so I work as Helen continues to sleep. I look over the reports on my current research. 

* * *

Clark arrives at the castle late afternoon and goes to the library to meet me. "So what do you want to talk about?" 

"You?" I fill a glass with cognac. 

"I don't drink," Clark says. 

"I'll get you a bottle of water or a glass of soda," I stand over the bar. 

"Soda water is fine. Lex, I know that I should have told you sooner, but Pete had a trouble handling it." 

I hand Clark a bottle of Perrier. "You don't trust me." 

"I didn't. Do you blame me after all that happened?" 

"Not really." 

"Every time you commented about not forgiving betrayal I felt like I was falling deeper into a hole." Clark opens his water. 

I refill my drink. "The problem with being a mutant that it takes quite a number of drinks for me to feel it. I met Helen due to alcohol poisoning, high tolerance and low body fat. My test results were so strange that all these years later she hadn't forgotten me." 

"You don't need to get drunk." Clark puts his hand on my shoulder. 

"I understand why you didn't tell me. I don't know what I'm going to do about Helen," I say before downing another drink. 

"You don't have to live with her." Clark tries to make eye contact. 

"I asked her to marry me. I like her; maybe that's enough." 

"That isn't enough. You like me and you didn't ask me to marry you." 

"Clark, we're in Kansas." 

"I graduate in a year. We could get a place together. Lex, I like you a lot." Clark puts his hand on my face. 

"Helen is good for me. What's happening with Chloe and Lana?" 

"Pete digs Chloe and you don't hit on your best friend's girl and Lana and I haven't seen eye to eye in a very long time," Clark says. 

"There are other girls." 

Clark takes the bottle of water with him and leaves. 

Clark probably overhears me on the phone as he is walking away. "Dad, Helen found something that could cause LuthorCorp stock to plummet." However, Clark continues to walk away, not wanting to listen to my private phone conversations. 

"She's your problem," my father says. 

"She came to Smallville after you healed a spinal injury and several soft tissue injuries. Since she's been here, your optic nerves grew back. If I was looking for a mutant to experiment on, I would choose you," I state. 

"Good health is a blessing," my father states. He isn't going to let me point out that he shouldn't be here after all that had happened to him. 

"Dad, your good health is nothing short of miraculous. I'm afraid what Helen will find if she starts questioning. What if she learns about your Level 3 research?" 

"I discontinued that years ago." My father hangs up. 

I return to my paperwork concerning the plant. Everything looks good. The LexCorp Fertilizer Plant is going strong. 

* * *

I have time to relax at the pool until Helen arrives home. After doing, twelve laps I lie in the shade and take a short nap. I feel a hand on my shoulder. "Clark," I say before my brain registers that the hand is much too small to be Clark's. "Helen. I thought you would still be working." I'm not going to let a slip of the tongue upset me. 

"I thought you would like my company for dinner." 

"What time is it?" I pick up my watch off the table. 

"Past seven. The cook has dinner waiting for us," Helen says. 

Part of me wants to voice my concerns about the rocks and the Smallville's residents remarkable healing and another part hopes that Helen is ignorant of such things. I go to the bedroom and change for dinner. Helen joins me in the dining room. "How long does it that take a multiple fracture of the leg to heal?" 

"Up to a year," Helen says. 

"Don't you find it odd that Mr. Kent's leg healed in a little more than a week?" I ask. 

"Many odd things happen in Smallville," Helen says. 

"True." 

"I never did find out what cured Mrs. Kent," Helen states as she starts to eat. 

"That isn't my business." I had stolen a copy of her record and since Helen has a key to the room containing the wrecked Porsche among other things; she can look at any files in there if she so desires. I want Helen to trust me. I hope that she would return my trust, but she's a closed book. "Why do you think all these weird things happen here?" 

"You're the one researching it," Helen states as she eats her salad. 

"Aren't you curious?" 

"Of course. Lex, I won't discuss crazy theories with you over dinner." 

"I talk about mine." 

"Honey, I rather be sure of something before I open my mouth. I'm less likely to insert my foot." Helen believes you have to be great at something or not bother. I want to do great things, but I don't let the failures along the way stop me. 

"I needed to tell someone about my weird ideas. I couldn't hold it inside anymore." 

"I'm not comfortable with your obsession with Clark and his spaceship." 

"Have you seen the spaceship?" I ask. 

"No, but I know it exists," Helen admits. Helen gives me a look like she didn't want to talk about the subject further. The rest of the meal is eaten in silence. Helen won't talk to me about her interest in Smallville's residents over one dinner. I'm even more certain that she's researching us. 

After the staff take the empty plates from the table, Helen says that she needs to go to the medical center and look in on a couple patients. I go to the gym and kick box a punching bag. 

I need to know if Helen is going to learn the cause of my father's remarkable healing. I suspect it is related to the meteor rocks. My father has bars in his safe. His vision returned after his exposure during the kidnapping incident. My father and I aren't the only ones to benefit from miraculous healing. I could label dozens of other incidents in this town, but not everyone in Smallville has incredible healing and some people that healed fast one time and don't seem to heal as fast the next. Meteor rock exposure has to be an element, but how would I prove it? What I need to know is how much Helen knows about this? I don't care if Helen knows about the rocks. I want her to know. All I want in return is for her to talk about her knowledge. 

I know that meteor rocks speed up metabolism. They give people incredible strength and speed. I suspect that Clark's speed and strength come from the meteors that traveled with his ship and not all people of his world possess it, but Clark is never forthcoming with my questions. I know that Tina Grier had incredible strength and speed and so did the boys that broke into my safe. I suspect in small controlled doses this boost in metabolism promotes healing, but is Helen researching it and to what end? I don't want the people of Smallville exposed to the rest of the world. 

I call the Kent farm. "I would like to talk to Clark," I tell Martha Kent. 

"In a minute," she says. 

Clark is no more forthcoming than the before, but at least Clark no longer denies being an alien. 


End file.
